Designing ‘Star Wars’: Ahsoka Tano

It’s hard to imagine now, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars almost wasn’t a story about Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Supervising Director Dave Filoni’s original vision for the series, scribbled on a piece of lined paper, involved a band of misfit scoundrels aboard a freighter and operating on the fringes of the galactic conflict. It would have included a Padawan Learner named Ashla, and her Jedi Master on assignment with the crew, working to aid the war effort by dealing with arms dealers and crime bosses like the Hutt clan. It would have occasionally brought the pair back to the frontlines to defend the Republic.